Sheffield music venue The Leadmill wins court battle over eviction threats – News

Sheffield’s longest-running music venue, The Leadmill, has won its recent court battle following a two-year legal battle with the building’s owners.

Last May, The Leadmill was served with an eviction notice after the historic building’s owners applied for a premises licence.

The venue was acquired as a freehold in 2017 by Electric Group (Electric Brixton London, SWX Bristol, NX Newcastle) who began looking to remove management to run the space themselves. The name Electric Sheffield was also registered in 2023.

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“If granted, this would allow them to operate their own business from this location,” the venue explained on Instagram last year. “This could see The Leadmill cease to exist after 43 years.”

The case went to court for the first time on Monday, May 20 and Tuesday, May 21, where The Leadmill moved one step closer to winning their ongoing battle against the building’s owners, they confirmed on Instagram yesterday.

At Leeds Business & Property Court, The Leadmill spoke about the “illegal” approach taken by landlords and the various submissions submitted by landlords.

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The judge made the decision to move the case to the High Court, explaining that three out of four of The Leadmill’s amended defenses had “a real prospect of success”.

Electric Group’s Dominic Madden said that if the eviction goes ahead, the venue will be rebranded and replace all current staff. He also said those using the space as a workshop would also be evicted, which The Leadmill claimed was a “breach of well-established principles of human rights law”.

Madden’s representative, Wayne Clark, rejected the claim that this would be a violation of human rights laws, explaining at the hearing: “With respect to my erudite friend, he is reading far too much into this.”

In a statement on Instagram yesterday, The Leadmill said: “Our staff attended the hearing and were shocked to hear that Jacob Lewis and Dominic Madden were intent on destroying their livelihoods.” Read their full statement here.

Gemma Ross is Associate Editor of Mixmag, follow her on Twitter